Navionics NavPlanner

Wade – Have you used this program yet?

It is telling me that I need to format my card. I know better than to hit yes!

Has anyone got this program / reader from Wade yet also?

Henry,

I have not used it at all. I will have to defer to Navionics on this one. Email them at [email protected] or call 800-848-5896 and ask to speak to a tech about the NavPlanner. I would say you are about the first guy in the country to have one so there’s going to be little info out there yet.

Are you talking about the new card thats out that you can read on your PC and use it in your units, and you can also do some route trail plannning on your PC? I just heard it existed yesterday.

BTW: Wade delivers VERY FAST!

As for my problem – Navionics was of little help, the navplanner will not read my 05 Premium Hotmaps East card though the reader will read my camera’s SD card. So the card reader is not the problem.

So instead of dealing with why it won’t work… ordered new ’06 card from wade just now!

Yep. NavPlanner for Navionics chips…

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BTW: Wade delivers VERY FAST!

As for my problem – Navionics was of little help, the navplanner will not read my 05 Premium Hotmaps East card though the reader will read my camera’s SD card. So the card reader is not the problem.

So instead of dealing with why it won’t work… ordered new ’06 card from wade just now!

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Henry, I appreciate the order but do you want the new chip just because this one isn’t working in the NavPlanner or do you want it for new Lakes? The NavPlanner is just released and there may be some kinks to work out or some tricks to get it to work. I will call Navionics and see if I can get some info. Can you tell me, is it just telling you to format the card? Nothing else yet, right?

I just got off the phone with Navionics. They have confirmed a glitch in the software. They are in the process of fixing the problem. They will be offering the software update free of charge of course. In the meantime, they have stopped production, until they have resolved the issue.

So Henry, it doesn’t appear that this has anything to do with your current 2005 map chip. That’s the good news. The bad news is that you’ve got a unit that is currently unusable. They could not give me a time frame on the repair update but said they are trying to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. I’ll leave it up to you as to whether you want to hang on to the one you’ve got until they send you the free repair update or if you want to return it.

For everyone else who might be looking to purchase the NavPlanner, looks like there will be a longer wait. Sorry guys.

cool beans man

Wade how much for the planner software/card reader package?
I’d like to hear some testimonials in comparison with lakemaster’s PC software. Lakemaster’s PC-to-Card compatibilty has always been a mess in terms of transfering waypoints form PC to card or vice versa.
I look forward to trying this out. Navionics is staying a step ahead with this. There have been many people who wanted to read their cards on the PC. Finally.
I’ll be sure to pick this up from ya Wade
Anybody want a lakemaster MN card?

They run $129.99. I’ll try to keep you guys posted on the update/software fix.

Hey Wade, I talked to the woman at Navionics and while the software installs fine, the reader installs fine, whenever I put my card in the reader it asks me to format it – well I know that is not a good thing.

She was going to call me back but that didn’t happen.

As for the new order of the ’06 card, order away! Instead of getting the $75 rebate for sending in the card, I am just going to give it to my neighbor who is picking up his new boat next year and he is not exactly computer efficient! (or depth finders for that matter too.) New lakes on the chip are a good thing too.

As for the software – it is a scaled down version of pcplotter with less features. From the menus in the help to the other features, this software looks like it was released very eary.

Chip is on the way!

Wade,
Did Navionics get the bugs worked out with software?? I’m still waiting to order it.

Thanks Dave

Dave, No word yet.

Update – the chip from wade arrived super fast as usual and the new chip worked just fine with the navplanner.

As for the software – I would highly recommend anyone wanting to buy this to try it out first. It is not very user friendly.

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It is not very user friendly.

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After trying this since the last time I made this post I will say this instead – Navplanner software is absolutely horrid. But keep this in mind – if you want to do anything with your Navionics chip you will have to buy Navplanner as the reader that comes with it is the only one that will work with Navionics chips.

Henry, I hope the lack of user friendliness is something they are addressing while they are back to the drawing board. This is their first attempt at a software program of this type so I suppose there will be a few kinks to work out. If you have time you might even email them your suggestions as I’m sure they would appreciate any feedback. If you want to email anything to me I could forward it to Jeff at Navionics for you too. Keep us posted on any progress. You’re one of the few that has one out there. I don’t even have one yet.